Warcraft: Sapphire Memories
by Trigbits
Summary: After the fall of Naxxramas, a strange visitor graces its halls. For audio version, just search the title of this story on Youtube (link cant be posted here).


The dread citadel, Naxxramas. Forever would the torment of its halls remain silent. The unholy beasts and worshipers that had once wandered its corridors were gone; their dark masters laid low. Screams of tortured souls were nothing more than a memory upon the cold dark stone. The unholy taint that had once emanated from its chambers was no more than a stain, clinging to the citadel's edifice like an incurable disease. While the threat of Naxxramas had been eliminated, it continued to hover, suspended eternally, above the lands of Dragonblight where the cold winds of Northrend bombarded it's pyramid-like exterior.

At the citadel's entrance, a balcony located on its underside, a mysterious visitor landed riding upon a large bat-like mount. While the rider was hooded and cloaked, closely fit clothes suggested a slender feminine body, and long ears protruding out of two slits made in the hood betrayed her high-elf lineage. Though her face was well covered, as far as anyone could see, she was a high-elf, or a blood elf as they took to calling themselves now. There was, however, no one who could see. The dread citadel had few visitors. Since its fall at the hands of brave heroes, the Argent Crusade had tried to purify the floating necropolis, but the corruption within could not be cured. Whatever horrors had occurred in its halls were beyond redemption. Unable to bring the citadel to the ground to be destroyed, it was left were it had been, empty though it may be, haunting the lands above Dragonblight with its shadow.

The elf rider dismounted her bat and looked around hesitantly. It was obvious that she did not want to be known as she climbed, slightly crouched, up the stairs into the core of Naxxramas. She had known a great deal about the dread citadel, but never had she been inside. Strangely, it's haunting presence had no effect on her and she seemed, more or less, quite comfortable roaming the halls. She gazed around, looking at the contraptions and trappings that had brought so much horror. Her stare was not with disgust or fear, but with an almost child-like wonder. She was not there to explore, however, and she quickly continued onward.

At last, she came across a large frozen dome - the Frostwyrm Lair. The dome itself was quite magnificent; Ice clung to the walls and ceiling creating beautiful crystalline stalactites in what appeared to be the largest chamber in all of Naxxramas. Beyond the dome was doorway that led to the empty throne room of Kel'Thuzard himself, the once lord of the necropolis. The intruder had no interest in the beauty of the ice, nor did she have any interest in continuing onward to the throne room. She had found what she was looking for, the very reason for her stealthy infiltration.

In the center of the room were the remains of a large frostwyrm, an undead dragon forced into the service of the Lich King. The bones of the frostwyrm were broken and scattered across the room. The heroes who had invaded this chamber had all but destroyed the frostwyrm's body, insuring that it could no long be reanimated by the Lich King's powers.

The elf walked forward and placed her hand on the broken skull of the frostwyrm; its once proud head was so much larger than she and stood much taller even in its broken state. Drawing back her hand, she removed her hood. Lifting it upward, she tilted her head back slightly as to make sure her long slender ears would not be caught by the hood while it fell to rest on her back. There had been a reason she had concealed herself. She did not - no, she could not afford anyone to know of her presence here. So many had already questioned her loyalty, abused her honor, and betrayed her. She was far from the comfort of her home in once capital city of Lordaeron and was resolved to operate as covertly as possible whenever outside of her own lands. After all, following the events of the Wrath Gate, the Banshee Queen was not very well liked, even among her own allies, or perhaps, especially so.

Sylvanas Windrunner again placed her hand on the frostwyrms broken skull. Once, she had been a proud high-elf and Ranger-General of the city of Silvermoon. Those days were long behind her, however, and she was now forced to live in undeath - in torment. She was beautiful - well, as beautiful as undeath would allow her to be. Despite her grayish-blue skin and glowing red eyes, she retained much of the magnificent splendor that she once had. Her hair, blonde and silky in life, was now pale, but she still wore it in much the same way she did then. Once, her beauty had been envied by every woman in Quel'Thalas, and her strength envied by every soldier. She had even been distinguished among her own sisters, Alleria and Vereesa, who were nearly equally beautiful and strong. In undeath, her once warm and vibrant skin was now cold, and her heart beat no longer. The pleasantries of the past were dead to her now and she, as best she could, tried not to think of them.

Sylvanas moved her delicate hand down the side of the frostwyrms skull. She looked puzzled, as if pondering something. The expression on her face hinted at sadness, a rare occurrence for the Banshee Queen to be sure, but no tears came to her eyes.

"Sapphiron." She whispered, tilting her head slightly to one side.

Most would have assumed that the Banshee Queen was pondering a way to use the dragon's remains to her own advantage. Such was her nature, but those speculations would have been incorrect. There was something else driving the Dark Lady here; something else that had brought her to this place. Memories returned to her. They were happy memories of her youth, ones that she would rather have forgotten, but she suffered them to the fore of her mind.

"Stop! Stop!" a young Sylvanas Windrunner cried out. She was now wet, and her sisters were laughing at her.

"Come on, come with us." laughed Vereesa, her younger sister. Sylvanas sighed.

"Fine" she replied, attempting to brush the ocean water off of her arms. She was trying to sound more annoyed that she really was. In truth, she enjoyed the company of her sisters even though they, mostly Alleria, had splashed her with water while she was resting on the sand. She was happy to join them.

They were young, children in eyes of their kin. Even Alleria, the eldest, had not yet seen her fourteenth birthday. Even so, Alleria had been allowed to begin her training as a ranger, something that made Sylvanas wildly jealous of her. They were still far too young to simply wander into the Evensong Woods with no supervision, but the three did so anyway. The woods, though they were beautifully stunning beyond belief, were home to many creatures and more than a few were hostile to their high-elf neighbors. Whenever the three of them wondered into the wooded embrace they always made sure to do so secretly.

The three sisters - Alleria, Sylvanas, and Vereesa - left the warm sands of the beach, under the shadow of Windrunner Spire, the home of their family, and wondered into the forest. They had several times visited a nearby stream and enjoyed wading through the cool flow of water and often played games there with one another. Something grabbed Sylvanas' attention and she looked up. She though she saw something; something that had blocked out the sun, for just a brief moment. Had it been a griffin, or dragon-hawk rider? No, it had to be something larger, she thought.

"Must you dawdle." A voice said. Sylvanas' eyes were brought back to ground where she saw her older sister, Alleria, looking at her.

"I thought I saw... something." She confessed.

"Too scared to go into the forest today, Love? Little-moon and I would hate to leave you behind." Alleria said playfully, staring at Sylvanas and then glancing over to the side where Vereesa stood.

"Let's go!" Vereesa cheered as she grabbed Sylvanas' hand, pulling her along before she could retort Alleria's words.

As they went, Sylvanas continued to peer at the sky, when the wooded canopy allowed it, in an attempt to see what had caught her attention. She swore she saw something big. It had to be much larger than any bird or creature she had seen before. They reached the stream in no time and her attention was brought back to her sisters. She smiled and in remembrance of her own wet clothes, pushed Alleria who stumbled stupidly into the almost knee deep water.

"That's for earlier!" She said, smiling and laughing at her older sister, who was now much more soaked that Sylvanas had ever been. Vereesa burst out laughing and Alleria, while clearly irritated, managed to cracked a smile as well. She responded by kicking the water at her feet at both of her sisters and began to give them chase as they ran down the bank. They were as they had always been - happy - and Sylvanas had all but forgotten about the strange something she saw in the sky only a few minutes ago.

They were so caught up in one another, that they had not taken to notice how far south they had gone, and that they were coming dangerously close to where some of the more savage inhabitants of the forest made their home. It was Alleria who first noticed. After all, she had been studying maps of the woods in her training to become a ranger and knew that they had gone too far south.

"We should turn back, I - I don't think it's a good idea to go down the river past here." She declared. Her playfulness was gone for the moment. She loved her younger sisters dearly, and was very protective of them when she thought them to be in danger. The two younger sisters did not argue with her, though Sylvanas would have liked to; she loved to argue, but the tone in Alleria's voice caused her to keep silent and she knew that her older sister was right.

"Come on." Alleria said, forcing a smile and trying to return to her carefree self as she began walking north. Her sister's followed as they walked up the river bank.

Suddenly, and without any warning, Sylvanas felt a hard grip on her arm. She turned around and horror befell her face. She found herself staring straight into the eyes of a forest troll. It's blue humanoid form had two large tusks, scarred from many battles, jutting out from the sides of its mouth. It's eyes burned with bloodlust and it wore nothing but a decorated loin-cloth, and a necklace of ears; they were the ears of her kin and as her eyes fell upon them she let out a piercing shriek.

Alleria and Vereesa had been walking in front of her, and until their sisters cry they not notice the troll. It had been so silent in its stalking of the three girls that until it's rough hand touch Sylvanas' arm, she would not have known, or even suspected that it was there.

"You be dyin' today, little elf bitch." The troll let out a crude smile as the horribly accented Thalassian left his blood-craving lips.

Sylvanas' knees buckled in fear, and she would have fallen straight to the ground if the troll's grip had not kept her upright. Alleria's eyes widened and, without any thought for herself, she jolted past Vereesa and lunged toward the beast. The troll pulled Sylvanas, still paralyzed in fear, to his side and brought his other hand around to grab the attacking adolescent elf. She was quick though, and her bare foot landed square on the trolls head, which stood shorter than she since the troll was crouched, as they often were, closely to the ground.

"Run! Go get father, go get someone!" Alleria yelled at her youngest sister even as her foot met with the troll's face. Vereesa had been expressionless and in disbelief. She had never seen a troll, and it's massive figure, though crouched, filled her with fear. She obeyed and in an instant had turned into the woods and ran as fast as she could toward the Windrunner Spire, tears curving down her cheeks. The troll did not seem to even budge at Alleria's attack and she immediately fell to the ground. Fear overwhelmed her. Not fear for herself, but for her sister. What would she do? What could she do? She wished she had brought her bow - Why hadn't she? Thoughts rushed through her mind uncontrollably.

Sylvanas had now come to her senses and began struggling wildly. She had no hope for escape though and the troll maintained his grip with very little regard to her protest. The troll laughed sickeningly. He threw Sylvanas down right on top of her sister, sending Alleria, who was still trying to get back on her feet, on a quick return to ground. Sylvanas tumbled off of her sister and tried to move away from the large troll, who was now standing straighter and much taller than before. She was so small, so fragile, next to his brutality. She was hoping for a cascade of arrows to rain down on him. Hoping that any second her father would emerge from the trees to save them in response to Vereesa's warning. She knew, however, that Windrunner Spire was not so close, and that Vereesa was still too young to cover the distance so quickly. Tears welled up in her eyes. If she could just slow him down long enough - if she could just keep her and Alleria alive, they might be saved still. She looked at Alleria - Alleria wasn't moving. Her head rested upon the bank of the river and her beautiful light colored hair was covered in mud. The force of the trolls throw had not only brought Alleria back to the ground, but it had knocked her unconscious as well.

Sylvanas was about to close her eyes and embrace whatever horrors would come when she saw it again. Something in the sky. It was large, and getting larger. It had massive wings and a large body but she could not make out much else with the sunlight glaring behind it. What happened next was all a blur to her. Was it the quaking of the earth as if a meteor had stuck, or the trolls body being cleaved into nothing that came first. Even in the moment, she could not tell. The troll fell backwards, it's physical body nearly rent in two as the shadow of the wings of massive beast were cast upon it.

Sylvanas turned to look behind her, where she thought the beast to be, but to her surprise, there was no winged beast there. Behind her, just a few feet away, stood a middle-aged high-elf. He had streaming blonde hair, as most of her kin did, and he wore a long violet robe. His eyes were a haunting shade of blue, an almost unheard of trait among the high-elves. He looked down upon her with a soft face and a faint smile.

"Are you alright?" He asked. His voice was deep and calm. Sylvanas said nothing. Her mind still had not yet caught up with reality and while she sat there, gawking at him, he bent down and quickly assessed her condition. Upon determining her relative wellbeing he moved over to Alleria, who was still unconscious. A look of concern filled his face as he pressed two of his fingers against her forehead. He looked to be discerning something, possibly magically, and after a few moments his concerned look melted into one of relief.

"She will be fine." he announced, looking toward Sylvanas who was still completely speechless. It was very unlike her to stay so silent but what had just happened did not seem real to her. Even now she was grappling with the reality in her own mind.

"The three of you were very lucky." his voice began to escalate in intensity, "You should not have been so foolish as to wander this far down the river." His sharp blue eyes cut straight into her. A feeling of shame overwhelmed her, but then suddenly her mind was cleared as something he said caught her curiously.

"The three of us?" she thought to herself. How did he know Vareesa had been there. She wondered if Vareesa had run into him on her way back to Windrunner Spire and told him of what happened. No - no that could not be. Windrunner Spire was toward the north west, near the ocean, and it looked as though her savior had come from the north-east, from the other side of the river. Furthermore, if she had warned him, why wasn't Vareesa with him. At the same time If she hadn't warned him then, how did he know that the three of them had been wondering down the river. Had he been watching them? If so, why did he wait so long to make himself known. Sylvanas pondered these things, remaining silent as the man lifted Alleria in his arms and wiped the mud from her face and hair.

"My name is Sapphiron, little one." His voice was warm and deep, much deeper than any high-elf Sylvanas had ever met. At any rate, it was soothing, and all of her suspicions of him washed away and she felt content and thankful to be alive.

"S- Sylvanas Windrunner" she introduced herself. Her breath was heavy, still recovering from the shock. She didn't like being called 'little one,' but made no protest.

"Well, Sylvanas Windrunner, best we get you home soon, It is already late and you have wondered far." The smoothness of his words calmed her. Just then a rustling came from the trees and three hooded figures swiftly emerged. Sylvanas quickly recognized them as rangers and a terrified look appeared on her face as she recognized one of them; it was her father, and his face was seeming with anger. The ranger's had arrows notched and bows half drawn when they emerged, but as soon as her father saw Alleria, unconscious and in the arms of Sapphiron, he dropped his bow to the ground and ran to her. All traces of anger were gone from him, and Sylvanas was thankful for it, as he reached out to hold his daughter's lip body.

"She is unconscious only, both her and Sylvanas Windrunner will be fine, though perhaps a little shaken. " As Sapphiron spoke, Alleria was given into the arms of her father. Sylvanas thought it very odd that he used her full name when speaking and she wondered why he had done so. At any rate, no one else seemed to care.

"...Thank you." her father muttered, holding back tears. His eyes were fixed upon his resting daughter. The scene was silent for a long while after and Sylvanas hoped and prayed that her father would choose not to punish her. Well, she supposed she didn't want her sisters punished either, but her concern was mostly for herself.

They were again at Windrunner Spire. Only an hour or so had passed. Sylvanas' father had said very little to her. He gave her embrace and had asked her if she was alright, to which she responded only with nod. He then instructed her that she and Vereesa were not to leave their room. Alleria had not yet woke, and it was likely that he wanted to address all three of his daughters together when deciding their punishment. Sylvanas grimaced at the thought.

The three of them shared a bedroom, thought they had been promised their own when they were older, and Sylvanas was sitting on her own bed grasping her knees with her hands. She was deep in thought. Vereesa sat next to her, doing much the same. Normally, Sylvanas might object to her sister sitting on her bed, but not today. They both stared across the room at another bed, belonging to Alleria. The bed was empty; their father had taken her to another room where she was being looked after until she woke. The two sisters sat, in silence. They remained there for many hours until finally someone walked in the doorway.

"Alleria!" both Sylvanas and Vereesa shouted with gleaming smiles. Their sister stood at the doorway. The two sister's smiles vanished, however, when they saw their father standing over her. There was a long silence before he said anything. When he did speak it was contained and calm, though his anger was known perfectly clear. An appropriate punishment for them would be chosen at a later time and all three of them apologized, though Sylvanas thought it was more of an apology for being caught and less of one for having done any wrong. They also were very happy to know that they would not be disallowed dinner that night. Their father had said they had an honored guest, and that his daughter's presence would be important.

"An honored guest? Who?" Sylvanas asked her sisters while they changed for dinner.

"Who knows." answered Alleria. Her voice was quite and her speech was slow, clearly exhausted. She was happy that it was finally time to eat. The three of them came down for dinner together, discovering that finest silverware and decorations had been used.

"So good to see you again, Sylvanas Windrunner." A voice said. It was then that Sylvanas knew who her father's honored guest was. It was Sapphiron, the high-elf who had saved both her and Alleria earlier that same day. Her father must have invited him to dinner as thanks for saving them.

"And this must be Vareesa," he turned the youngest and smiled, "and Alleria, I hope you are feeling better now." He bowed to the eldest and all of them took their seats along with the rest of the Windrunner family. Dinner was uneventful, and the conversation between Sapphiron and their father was rather dull. It wasn't until dessert that a question their father asked made all three girl's ears perk.

"So, what brought you so far south in the wood?" he asked. Sapphiron smiled calmly.

"I am," he paused for moment, finding his words, "a connoisseur of magic, so to speak. I was in these lands," he paused again for thought, "inspecting magical phenomena." he added. He chose his words carefully, as if speaking to child who would not understand the meaning of his more preferred vernacular. His words interested Sylvanas. Had he perhaps summoned so sort of magic to slay the troll. She remembered the shadow of those wings and silhouette of a large beast. It didn't add up, at least not to her. Could magic make such things? Sylvanas was very young still, and had very little experience or knowledge of any kind regarding magic.

The conversation continued and Sylvanas lost interest. Eventually the meal had ended and Sapphiron gave thanks and announced his immediate departure.

"Your are more than welcome to stay." Their father pleaded. "It is very late, and journeying from here to anywhere in the dark is not always safe." he added. Sapphiron smiled.

"Thank you, but I assure you, it would take much more than a band of trolls to catch me off my guard. I really should be leaving now." His voice was as soft and deep as ever. Sylvanas watched has he walked toward the doorway to leave the spire. She wanted to know more about his 'magic'' or if it was magic at all. Sylvanas walked up to him as he was nearly out the door. Her father had already made leave and was no longer in the room. They were alone.

"How did you save us?" she asked innocently. Sapphiron turned and looked down at the young Sylvanas. He said nothing, and it seemed to her that he was thinking - thinking of the right words to say.

"I remember wings," she started, "massive wings and the shadow of a great beast." Sapphiron's eyes widened when she said this and he gave, for the first time that night, and true and genuine smile.

"You are very perceptive, Sylvanas Windrunner. I'm sure you will one day be respected among your people for it." He said with a wide and wholesome smirk. He did not stay to answer her question fully though and she did not stop him as he left the Spire and walked into the darkness.

"your people?" she asked herself quietly. She could not discover why he would say 'your' people instead of 'our' people. She was certain that he was a high-elf and of the same ancient lineage as her. Sylvanas was very confused, but more than confused, she was tired and went to bed without giving it much thought.

Sylvanas returned to the present from the world of her memories. She was no longer the innocent child of her memory, but the Banshee Queen of the Forsaken. She let out a slight laugh. It was quiet and reserved, but seemed to echo loudly in the halls of Naxxramas. As a child, she had no idea about the power of dragons. She did not yet know of their great strength and their unique ability to take on the forms of mortal races. Those memories brought her momentary happiness, but such happiness was always followed by a harsh and cruel darkness. Every journey into her past was a painful one, even happy memories were made sour by the suffering she had once experienced and, in many ways, still experienced. As she reflected, she looked at the remains of the frostwyrm, the once proud Sapphiron of the blue dragonflight. She forced a smile.

"Thank you," she whispered," for saving me...and I am sorry, I could not return the favor."

This was all she said, and she immediately turned and left the chamber, as if spending any more time there might undo her. Returning to the dread citadel's balcony, she replaced her hood over her head, remounted her bat-like beast, and departed from that place.

The halls of Naxxramas were once again silent, eternally.


End file.
